Football and decoders

Three combined foreign decoder card test cases brought by the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) have been decided in the High Court following the European Court of Justice ruling on questions arising out of the cases. The defendants had broadcast works, via a television screen and speakers, to public house customers. While the publican defendants were communicating FAPL’s copyright works to the public in breach of legislation they had a defence and the copyright infringement was basically limited to the anthem and certain graphics. The judge in the case agreed to make a declaration to reflect the European Court’s ruling that obligations in exclusive licence agreements were void to the extent that they stopped the Greek licensee from supplying decoder cards for use in the UK.